Great Divide Expedition

[Scott Brady]

I am not planning on this trip for a year or so, but I thought everyone would enjoy the video.

I have an original on VHS, along with all of the Camel Trophys. Fun stuff.

 

[AZCPP]

I am not planning on this trip for a year or so, but I thought everyone would enjoy the video.

I have an original on VHS, along with all of the Camel Trophys. Fun stuff.

Come on Scott, don't you need one more thing to do about now...:088:





Just joken!!

 

[kodiak1232003]

Not at all, Rover only trips can be pretty messy sometimes. I mean who is going to go for help when we need parts?

hahaha...thats why i love this site.

LOL...:wings:

 

[Desertoutpost]

Not at all, Rover only trips can be pretty messy sometimes. I mean who is going to go for help when we need parts?

And who is going to carry all of our oil?

 

[canucksafari]

I would love to do this trip. However, I will need a turbo on my truck before even thinking about it. Naturally aspirated diesels don't do so well above 6,000 feet.

 

[Funrover]

If it's not a "Rover only" trip, I would llike to participate.

Bring what you have It's all about having fun!:wings:

 

[Funrover]

I would love to do this trip. However, I will need a turbo on my truck before even thinking about it. Naturally aspirated diesels don't do so well above 6,000 feet.

???? My mercedes does fine when I go to 12,000 +........?????? It's not turbo'd.... What problems have you had? I live aboive 6,000 where I am at....

 

[Redline]

Just made time to watch the whole thing. Very nice and a true adventure. Might be even more of an adventure without as much sponsorship and a few prepared souls with their appropriate machines

 

[canucksafari]

???? My mercedes does fine when I go to 12,000 +........?????? It's not turbo'd.... What problems have you had? I live aboive 6,000 where I am at....

I haven't had any big prbs beside low power and smoke. There are no high alt compensators on the Nissan Patrol diesels, besides a turbo. I have been told by the Kiwis that at elevations above 6,000' the performance suffers and Nissan does not recommend the naturally aspirated TD4.2 go above 2,000M. I have only been near that once on the highway and did notice I had to drop into 3rd on inclines I could do in 4th or even 5th near sea level. I would presume if I had the injector pump set-up for a higher altititude, it would be okay. After all I saw lots of non-turbo diesels in Bolivia operating in the 7,000'-14,000' range. Would like to test that at some higher altitudes before risking holding a group back.

 

[Funrover]

I haven't had any big prbs beside low power and smoke. There are no high alt compensators on the Nissan Patrol diesels, besides a turbo. I have been told by the Kiwis that at elevations above 6,000' the performance suffers and Nissan does not recommend the naturally aspirated TD4.2 go above 2,000M. I have only been near that once on the highway and did notice I had to drop into 3rd on inclines I could do in 4th or even 5th near sea level. I would presume if I had the injector pump set-up for a higher altititude, it would be okay. After all I saw lots of non-turbo diesels in Bolivia operating in the 7,000'-14,000' range. Would like to test that at some higher altitudes before risking holding a group back.

LOL Come on up to CO I will help test with you! :gunt: :wings:

 

[canucksafari]

LOL Come on up to CO I will help test with you! :gunt: :wings:

Would love to give it a go. Showed my wife the pics and vid of Bear Pass and all the switch backs going down (I think that was the one). Bad idea. Her response was "there is no way I am going down that". I'll have to get her use to steep decents. We do have a few around here. Brought back memories of a trip to a small mountain village in Guerrero. We went in with friends in their truck during the night. Going out it was day light. We went in a old school bus converted into the community's main link to the outside world. Every switch back the driver had to make a 6 point turn, which had the long rear overhang in about 2,000' of free air. Of course, we were sitting at the back of the bus and it was so packed there was no way we could move from our spot.

One question, what type of vacuum pump does your mercedes have? Mine is attached to the alternator and has a small reserve (about to add a small acetalyne bottle as an additional reserve). At idle, it does not generate much vacuum so the braking is not great. I am sure this would be worse in thinner air. Have you or others done this trip in a diesel Landy?

 

[Alaska Mike]

Brings back memories...

I remember back in the early '90s Scott and I would go to the Land Rover dealer in Boise and borrow VCR tapes of the Camel Trophy, the Great Divide Expedition, and others so we could copy them and sit around dreaming about doing something on that scale. I still have several of them. Scott and I couldn't afford a Land Rover (and I think the dealer knew it), although we did get to test drive a D-90 off road. I could see Scott doing the math in his head, but the fit and finish of the rig (everything rattled- a lot), the price (you could get two new XJ Cherokees for the price), and the inevitable showdown with Steph probably killed it.

I remember at the time thinking that this expedition wasn't all that incredible, with only a few real obstacles shown. I much preferred the punishment that was evident on the Camel Trophy videos. However, in retrospect I think it was pretty great to take stock rigs over that terrain with drivers of varying degrees of proficiency. It's a shame that Land Rover has abandoned that advertising strategy (in the states at least). I'd like to see them return to that with the new owner. The LR3 is nice and all, but... nothing about it says safari to me. Maybe zebra print seat covers...

As for the Range Rover, it's funny but I've noticed a few popping up around here in various stages of build-up. They certainly are cheap to aquire, but usually they are at the end of their service life when they reach the $3K mark (meaning massive engine and drivetrain repairs). The body styling is what sells a rig that old, and the Range Rover evokes the image of my Mom's AMC Hornet wagon. Just not sexy. True, they're capable as hell and you can always modify it with newer and more durable parts, but it takes a ton of bolt on expedition bling to cover up that grocery-getter styling. The Disco is an easier sell based on looks, but finding manual transmission models with few gadgets is getting harder and harder.

I admit it- I'm shallow. I bought a Series III for the looks (and because I still can't afford a Defender). It will cost three times what it will eventually be worth, and it will never perform as well as a Range Rover or Disco. I'll be uncomfortable and inevitably covered in road dust and grime. However, which rig could you visualize using to hunt game with John Wayne? The Series rig, every time. Somehow I don't think the Duke would spend much time counting cupholders or fiddling with the HVAC zones when there is a zoo in Europe looking for a black rhino.

I could be wrong, though.

 

[rydz]

Hi Guys

Are you guys stalking me?

For the last 2 weeks I have been reseaching and looking into everything and anything about the divide route in a 4WD.

Seems most of the folks aware of the GDR will do in on a mountain bike,or a dual sport,but I dont know if anyone has done the entire GDR in a 4WD.

As I have what has to be the worlds slowest diesel powered jeep that I imported from japan (a neat rare J44,long wheel base,created from the CJ3B,very MASH 4077) and no particular reason for loving it so. I figured it would be neat to do something slow and technical in it,take the time to see the sights and sounds as wel as do somehing very few will have done.

Not sure yet,but the plan is Summer 2009,have to look over the rig and install just a few extra's to make it a better platform,but the goal is to do it in as stock a configuration as possible,and the least amount of additional extra's.

In any case I have been chatting back and forth with some of the dual sport guys,and as far as I can tell,this is something I will do.

I didn't think about the high altitude problems with the diesel,mine is no turbo'ed either (will have to look into propane or something for some of the really high passes) and it only has about 80HP (when it was new....it's a 1980 )

if you are going to do this in group fashion please drop me a note as well.

Thanks

Paulo

 

[canucksafari]

I didn't think about the high altitude problems with the diesel,mine is no turbo'ed either (will have to look into propane or something for some of the really high passes) and it only has about 80HP (when it was new....it's a 1980 )

Sounds like quite the beat of a rig you have Paulo. I am sure that it would make a very nice addition to a pack of expedition vehicles.

I also consider the propane injection but the diesel experts on MUD said there was no benefit unless you can get the etra air in there from a turbo. Did I get it right that it has a 3B engine? If so, there are a number of options for a u-brew turbo set-ups and the ready to install kits from Auss are not near as pricey as they are for my engine.

 

[cowboy4x4]

justed watched the vid that looks like a great trip and I would love to attend something like that ....lets gooooooooooooooooo